


Penguins Skate Better Than Butterflies

by squirrelmort



Series: Rei Thinks Too Much [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1211911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squirrelmort/pseuds/squirrelmort
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's too cold to swim, so Nagisa decides it's time he and Rei participate in his favorite winter sport: ice skating. He soon learns Rei isn't quite as into the sport as he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Penguins Skate Better Than Butterflies

            Summer and fall had passed, and winter was freezing. Even Haru had to admit it was time to close the pool. Thankfully Samezuka Academy let Iwatobi use their indoor pool for their joint practices, but that was still only once a week, meaning everyone suddenly had a lot more free time. Rei had planned on spending most of that time studying alone at his desk, but instead found Nagisa was constantly there—dragging him to a movie, insisting they work out to stay in shape for swim season, or (noisily) studying on his bed. It was very distracting. But that was going to change. He was going to take control of the Nagisa situation. He had a plan. It would work.

 _I’m going to do this_ , Rei thought. _Deep breaths._ _Here goes nothing_. He picked up his phone and— _DING DONG_. The doorbell rang. Rei let out a breath that was definitely not a sigh of relief and put his phone back in his pocket. He opened the door.

“Rei-chan! Get your shoes on.” Nagisa didn’t wait to be invited in and instead walked straight in and picked Rei’s coat off the coat rack.

“Nagisa, I need to—”

“Come on, Rei, hurry. Where are your gloves?” Nagisa was searching the pockets on Rei’s coat. “Good, they’re here. Let’s go.” Rather than argue Rei just sighed and got ready to leave. Nagisa had probably realized there was some movie Rei simply _had_ to see. They were on their way to the train station before Rei even managed to ask where they were going.

“Ice skating,” Nagisa answered. “Rei-chan, what’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

“Wh-Why do you want to ice skate?”

“Because it’s winter!”

“B-but there are other things to do. In fact, I have homework I should get back to.” Rei turned to leave, but Nagisa grabbed him.

“Please, Rei-chan.” Rei tried unsuccessfully to avoid Nagisa’s pleading eyes. “I was watching the Olympics and all the skating is so _beautiful_. I thought you would love it.” Nagisa actually sounded concerned. _Was I wrong?_ “You said you’re interested in sports that are beautiful…”

“You’re right. We can go watch some at my house.”

“Please.”

……………

Rei didn’t know how Nagisa had convinced him to go to the rink, much less to swap in his shoes for rented ice skates that he was struggling to tie. _This was not the plan_ , Rei thought as Nagisa, skates already firmly fastened, leaned over to help Rei with his laces. Once finished, Nagisa stood up. “Let’s go!”

Rei carefully got to his feet, and promptly sat back down. “Actually, I’m feeling tired. I’ll just watch you skate.”

“Come on, Rei-chan. I already paid to rent the skates—you might as well use them.” Nagisa had insisted on paying their entrance and rental fees (“You can pay for dinner,” he said to silence Rei’s objections.).

“Shouldn’t I stretch first—ahh!” Nagisa grabbed Rei’s hand and yanked him to his feet. He kept forgetting that Nagisa was stronger than he looks. Nagisa finally let go of his hand to concentrate on stepping onto the ice. He glided a few feet before swiftly turning to a stop. He grinned and waited for Rei to join. Rei was in awe of how comfortable his friend was on ice.

“Hurry up! I’ve been waiting all day to watch you skate.” _Didn’t you just get the idea an hour ago?_ Rei took a breath and pushed the thought out of his mind. He needed to focus.

 _Mass is_ m _. Friction is_ mu… He bit his lip while running that calculations through his head. Finally, he carefully placed one foot on the ice, then the other… and immediately fell to his hands and knees.

“Rei-chan!” Nagisa swiftly closed the distance between them and bent over to help Rei to his feet. “Are you okay?” Rei tried to ignore his blush while he placed one hand on the rail. He slowly moved himself forward while Nagisa glided along silently. It wasn’t long before Rei slipped again, but this time Nagisa was there to catch him before he actually fell. “Why didn’t you just say you couldn’t skate?”

 _That would go against my sense of beauty_. “I’ve read the theory.”

Nagisa laughed. “Like you read all the theory for swimming?” Rei stood up even straighter and adjusted his glasses in hopes of hiding his reddening cheeks, but only succeeded in losing his balance and falling on his butt, causing him to blush even harder. Nagisa didn’t even try to hide his laughter while he helped Rei up again. However, instead of letting Rei grab ahold of the railing again, Nagisa took both of his hands.

That was it. It would be physically impossible for him to blush any harder. “Na-Nagisa?”

“Just hold still. I’ll pull you.” Rei did as he was told, allowing Nagisa to guide him around the ice. Thankfully there weren’t many other skaters there. After a lap, Nagisa brought them to a stop and let go of one hand and turned so he could actually see where they were going. “Okay, now you try.” Rei slowly picked up one foot and began to walk. “Keep your knees bent. Good... No, lean forward more.” Nagisa continued to give pointers and encouragement while Rei progressed from walking to gliding. After what seemed like hours but was probably closer to ten minutes Rei finally seemed to be getting the hang of it. He shook off Nagisa’s hand. “Rei..”

“I need to try it on my own.” Rei tried to hide his fear. He didn’t want to worry Nagisa more. Luckily, Rei managed to stay up right. He wobbled a bit, but kept his balance well enough to not fall.

Nagisa breathed a sigh of relief. “Rei is such a fast learner!” Nagisa cheered. They continued to skate more-or-less next to each other—every now and then Nagisa would speed up to get ahead, then skate back to Rei or wait for him to catch up. Rei constantly had to remind himself to keep skating and not get distracted. _How does he look so comfortable? He might as well be on dry land_. He was so busy concentrating on skating that he almost forgot that he had a plan involving Nagisa.

………

After skating they stopped at a ramen place near the rink (“There’s nothing like a hot meal after a day on the ice,” Nagisa had claimed, and Rei couldn’t disagree.). On the train Nagisa had gone on about various winter sports. He had never been skiing. Maybe they should try that next?

At Rei’s stop they both got off—Nagisa remembered that he wanted Rei’s help on his math homework. Nagisa was discussing whether they should ski or snowboard as they walked to Rei’s house. There was no putting it off any more. _Time to go forward with the plan. Now or Never._ “Nagisa, I need to ask you something.” They both stopped. Nagisa turned to look at him. Rei-chan sounded serious. “W-will you go to dinner with me?”

“We just ate.”

“No, I mean, like… on a date.” Maybe a date would stop Nagisa from distracting him all the time, Rei reasoned, purposefully ignoring any new… distractions that might lead to.

“What do you call what we just did?” _Was Rei seriously this slow?_ Nagisa wondered.

“I-I mean like a proper date. Like, a boyfriend date.” Rei mumbled. When he didn’t get a response, he managed to look up from his shoes and meet Nagisa’s eyes.

He was smiling. This couldn’t be good. _I guess he is this slow_. “If I say yes, do I get to kiss you?”

“Wh-what?”

Nagisa grabbed Rei’s head and pulled him down into a kiss. Rei was so shocked he didn’t move. Nagisa pulled away slightly and laughed. “Yes, Rei-chan, of course. But we’re going to have to work on your kissing.” Nagisa turned around and grabbed Rei’s hand, linking their fingers while they continued their walk to Rei’s house. Rei was too stunned to fully process anything Nagisa said the rest of the way. _He said yes! The plan to take charge had worked!_ Now, where would he find some books on kissing?


End file.
